More than thirty-five thousand Crimean Tatars have held a rally in the capital of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea to mark the fifty-fifth anniversary of their deportation to central Asia by the Soviet dictator, Josef Stalin.

The rally, in the central square of Simferopol, was also a protest against alleged discrimination in acquiring citizenship and finding jobs.

More than quarter of a million Tatars have returned to Crimea since the collapse of the Soviet Union and have been demanding a quota representing them in Crimean governing bodies. The Ukrainian President.

Leonid Kuchma, met Tatar leaders in Kiev on Monday and agreed to establish a presidential council of Tatar representatives to help resolve their problems.